River & Rail’s ‘Eurydice’ Explores Loss, Memory & Choices Through Timeless Myth

It’s a testament to the ancient Greeks’ thinking that we still debate the meaning of their myths and use the stories to make sense of our modern world. Teaching Greek mythology for years at my other job, I’ve read studies on The Odyssey being used to help veterans returning from war. Pyramus and Thisbe sets the tone for modern stories of lovers being torn apart. And Theseus served as inspiration for the highly popular dystopian series The Hunger Games.

One of the hardest nuts to crack is the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, a tale of two young lovers who, on their wedding day, are separated by Eurydice’s death and descent into the Underworld. Orpheus, one of the greatest musicians on Earth, ventures to the Underworld to retrieve his bride. Charmed by his music, the Lord of the Underworld allows him to take her back to the land of the living under one condition: he doesn’t look back as she follows him to the world of the living. SPOILER ALERT: he does. Scholars debate the ideas the Greeks were exploring with the mythical tale of loss.

Most debates focus on Orpheus; however, River & Rail Theatre has taken on Sarah Ruhl’s Eurydice, exploring the titular character’s navigation of both worlds. Ruhl’s haunting exploration of memory, loss and choice is framed against a stage that stuns when you see it (and you should). We even have something to help you do so at the end of this article. And, even with serious undertones, the play is really funny and touching.

Bringing the World of the Dead to Life

River & Rail has transformed the stage of the Old City Performing Arts Center into an appropriately dismal yet visually engaging space that will draw you into the Underworld. Their new space on Magnolia is still underway, so a return to OPAC felt like coming home. Minimal stage elements are used in what feels like a near-black box performance, matching the bleak state of the Underworld.

Water is a major element of the play with the river Styx, framed vertically through falling water in pipes, an opening scene set on a a creative “dock” (a movable set piece that forms another location) and even the Mississippi River.

In the Underworld, the bleakness of the darkened stage with walls painted black is punctuated by the use of lighting effects and elevator doors leading into the land of the dead. Loud Stone (Erika Lee Sengstack), Big Stone (Jacob Leon) and Little Stone (Rachel Bass) serve as a Greek chorus that alternate between humor and accentuating the grief and disorientation that is felt in death. When they protect the status quo, their combined voices provide a jarring reality of this version of afterlife.

Following the Thread of Loss

Ruhl, the actors and director explore loss and the shattering effect brought by death. Eurydice’s father, played by James Crawford, has preceded her to the Underworld and serves as her guide through losses (Eurydice’s childhood loss of her father and her own life). Eurydice’s Father rebuilds her identity and memory, washed away by the River Styx, through metaphor, guiding her to remember herself through the language.

A repeated motif of thread is used to trace the lines of her memory. As you see the play, watch for the use of thread as a bridge from the land of the living to the Underworld. One of the most stand-out stage sets is Eurydice’s room (banned by Ethan Copeland’s Lord of the Underworld) created by Father to help her find herself. Characters communicate through written letters sent between the worlds on thread, showing the audience the characters’ loss and how they will remember. They also serve as an act of defiance against the world of the dead. 

Ian’s Maryfield’s Orpheus is shattered by loss and his pursuit of Eurydice to the Underworld is found through music, as most things are for him. Elegant stringed instruments played by Maryfield combined with off-stage music combined with movement makes the audience believe that Orpheus is weaving his music from nature itself. Additionally, Orpheus’ harmonious chords are contrasted against screeching metal music in a scene that is not to be missed with the Lord of the Underworld. On the night I went, the audience roared during his entrance. 

In the end, the motivations of each character are explored through effects of their decisions. As the Lord of the Underworld grows in power, Eurydice’s motivations are left for the audience is left to ponder in a final letter. In true form, Ruhl does not give the audience pat answers but leaves them to explore this timeless myth in the light (and dark) of our own world.

Finding Eurydice

After the play, I sat with Develyn Jayan to discuss how she inhabits Eurydice. Jayan is completing her Masters of Fine Art through the University of Tennessee’s Theatre Department. She recently played Marianne Dashwood in CBT’s Sense and Sensibility and Texas in Cabaret. Coming from India three years ago, she was trained in the classical Indian acting form Bharatanatyam from the Natya Shastra. Her graduate thesis was on the integration of this acting form with Western acting techniques, which she hopes to continue working in the future.

Jayan said she found Eurydice through the “restriction in her because she’s in 1930s and the clothes that you wear, always very proper, very prim…” adding that “she goes to the underworld and basically all her memories are gone. And our body is made of memories; the body kept the score. And if the score is gone, it just becomes just a blank canvas. And so legs being closed or shoulders being back, there is no role.” 

Ironically, it was the lack of physicality that allowed Jayan to interpret her.

But Eurydice posed a challenge for her as an actress. She admitted that she was more Marianne than Eurydice in her personal life. Eurydice is “the reader. She’s the one who dissects words. That was really cool to be the one that’s like, wait, wait. But if you fly me to the sky, won’t I fall down? Instead of being like, oh my God, the sky is so pretty and I like clouds.” Eurydice’s cerebral nature leads to her final critical decision int he play.

Another challenge, and element I didn’t notice, was that Eurydice’s monologues are in a specific verse. Jayan explained, “to find the rhythm in broken verses is more difficult than a regular verse, right? But it was helpful in remembering because it was like three words. So I’m remembering three words at a time; it’s not ten words at a time.” The verse reflects a shattered Eurydice who memories of her life, father and husband are as broken and halting as the lines. Jayan discussed why water was repeated so often. She said, “I think it’s because water purifies everything, which is water keeps flowing. Nothing stops it. Time keeps moving, life keeps going.” 

In the end, Eurydice must make choices about her life and whether she defies and even takes revenge against the Lord of the Underworld.

I noted how her room of string in the Underworld reminded me of modern day scans of brain structures and how we make memory. Jayan gave me her personal take to add to the layers of this scene. She said, “I believe in the red string theory, the Japanese theory where everyone is connected. And like you and me, when we were meeting, there’s a string that’s going between us. And when I’m with my partner, there’s probably millions of strings. It’s what Orpheus says. ‘We’ve known each other for centuries.’ Because we were connected by a string in every life that we lived. And so by now we are all strung together.”

Finally, I asked how she defines the character of Eurydice as tragic, heroic or something else. After giving the question some thought, she explained, “I think it’s a win for her because she finally accepts what she wants. She finally makes a choice. She finally goes for what she wants instead of trying to let the other person do it for her.”

She said that Eurydice’s choice was a good one, but it was too late. “That is why it was a tragedy. It could have been the story of a girl who became a woman who understood what she wanted. But because the father decided to do what he did, it ended up with her losing everything.” In the end, Eurydice must make a choice about her father and her husband, which I don’t wish to give away here.

Jayan said the company worked a lot with making certain that they didn’t communicate that Eurydice made a wrong choice. “She’s not dumb. She heard that she can call his name. So there’s some reason why she did it. And I know the reason, but I want the audience to believe whatever it is.”

Jayan added “it is the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice. But this is through the brain of Eurydice. It’s the true story of Eurydice and why Orpheus turned to look at her.” The play will leave you thinking about its implications well after you see it.

Joining Eurydice’s Journey at River and Rail

Eurydice has one more week of performances (Thursday, April 30 – Sunday, May 3) at Old City Performing Arts Center (111 State St). Tickets can be purchased here. Good news if you made it this far! River and Rail has offered a discount code to readers of Inside of Knoxville. Use the code EURYKNOX to get 20% off of your ticket. Go take in this captivating production and explore the myth a little further.